Never ask a single person if they’re “seeing anyone special,” an unemployed person if they’ve found a job, or a married couple when they’re planning to have children. You’re not making conversation. You’re starting someone on the road to Prozac.

Another Ramadhan has passed and without fail my doa is still the same. I hope Allah heard my prayers and accepted them. Ameen. Hari Raya this year was celebrated modestly. We went back to my hometown in Sg Petani. I miss my arwah Tok Yang and Tok Ayah. Raya is just not the same without them. I pity my parents, uncles and aunties celebrating raya without their parents. Whenever we visit my Tok Ayah's grave my mom will cry without fail. My heart felt so heavy and I pray that Allah bless longevity of age to my parents. I dont think Im ready to lose any of them especially my mom anytime soon. I want her to see me get pregnant, safely give birth and hold my child in her arms before she dies.

A lot of good things had happened to me this year, Alhamdulillah. I just got promoted and transferred to a department which is totally alien and new to me. I had to learn from scratch but I am thankful that I have got very helpful colleagues that helped me through the transition. Im glad I dont have to deal with a temperamental boss and same old projects that I fear will not see the light of day. But I do miss colleagues from my previous dept. They keep me sane.

I had also attended a certification programme for 18 days called ASET (Accelerated Skill Enhancement Training) funded by the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) under Ministry of Human Resources Malaysia whereby at the end of the programme I can proudly call myself a "Trainer" certified by the CIPD, UK.

So yes, this year I have been blessed with good things. I have learned to accept that everything happens for a reason. When Allah takes one thing away from us, He replaced it with other things in return. Only Allah knows best.

My niece Sayang will turn 2 (shes already turning into a terrible 2 now!) in September and I was thinking of throwing her a birthday party. The planning would be a nightmare I think since I dont have much experience or creativity in organising a bday party, let alone for kids. The last one I organised was 4 years ago when my nephew Hareez was 3 years old. Maybe I should ask help from good friends who have had experience in organising kids bday parties.

I can't believe we're almost entering the month of September. 3rd quarter of the year has passed and soon with a blink of an eye we'll be celebrating the new year. And every year I would ask myself am I proud of my accomplishment and is there anything that I would change or do better this year. Am I becoming a better muslimah, daughter and wife?

I plan to start writing more often. It is going to be slow but InsyaAllah I will try to do it as often as possible.